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Friday, November 30, 2012

Big CityFeatured November 27Amaryllis DefinitionFeatured November 28Mountain SelectionsFeatured November 29Just a Note Featured November 30

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day. The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on December 1, 2012, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday November 30, 2012.

As you all know, November is the time to gear up for Christmas shopping. So many sales and crowds! Well, stick with us; we have some great deals for your Holiday Shopping needs.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Winter Scenes"

It's hard to believe that this is the last day of the blog hop. This week has flown by. I guess that's what happens as we count down to Christmas. My card for today is a birthday card, using the musical background and a couple of very large Prima flowers.

The sentiment is from the Celebrate mini set, which I received for participating in the September swap on Speedy TV. BTW, have you checked out the swaps over on Speedy TV? You only have to make four cards -- but you get three cards in return, as well as a free mini set.

My second project is an altered junior legal pad.

It was pretty simple to put together. I cut a white pocket portfolio folder in half, sliced one side of the pocket, folded it down just a little bit, and slid my junior legal pad over the pocket. After scoring down the center, I folded the other half over to make the cover and glued some designer paper on the front. I figured "just a note" was the perfect sentiment for my "notebook."

I hope you have gotten some inspiration from the blog hop this week. All the designers worked hard to present interesting projects. Don't forget to comment on as many of the blogs that you can. The more you comment, the greater the chance you have to win a free stamp set.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Big CityFeatured November 27Amaryllis DefinitionFeatured November 28Mountain SelectionsFeatured November 29Just a Note Featured November 30

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on December 1, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday November 30, 2012.

As you all know, November is the time to gear up for Christmas shopping. So many sales and crowds! Well, stick with us; we have some great deals for your Holiday Shopping needs.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Winter Scenes"

My first project/card for today is serving two purposes. In addition to being the third card for the blog hop, it is also my card for the CCEE Stampers. This is the last week that Vicky Gould is the challenge hostess. Her challenge was to "lace your ribbon."

Using a Martha Stewart border punch, I punched the holes across the top and bottom of my embossed cardstock and then laced the grosgraine ribbon through the holes. I used six different stamps from Mountain Selections to make my little mountain scene. The sentiment is from another MFP set called On the Fly (which was featured last month). If you'd like to play along with the CCEE stampers, link your card up using Mr. Linky on the CCEE Stampers Blog.

My second project is going to be a Christmas gift to my best friend and stamping buddy. Using a tutorial I found on Splitcoaststampers and my Sizzix matchbox die, I created this little embellishment dresser.

There are a total of 24 little matchboxes in this dresser. The knobs were made with wooden beads and brads. I put an assortment of embellishments in some of the drawers.

Here is a close-up photo of the top of the dresser.

As you can see, this is where I used the stamps from today's set. Again there are six separate stamps used on this image (the mountains, the rocks in front, the trees, the cabin, the pier, the boat/fisherman). The sentiment is from another one of last month's sets, Enjoy the View.

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT members' blogs for more creations using today's set. Every comment you make gives you another chance to win a free stamp set.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Big CityFeatured November 27Amaryllis DefinitionFeatured November 28Mountain SelectionsFeatured November 29Just a Note Featured November 30

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on December 1, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday November 30, 2012.

As you all know, November is the time to gear up for Christmas shopping. So many sales and crowds! Well, stick with us; we have some great deals for your Holiday Shopping needs.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Winter Scenes"

I have only one project that I made with today's set, Amaryllis Definition; however, it contains several elements. Using a tutorial from Splitcoaststampers, I made this Drawer Box. I googled "amaryllis" to get photos of several varieties, and I liked this one -- white w/red stripes. I stamped the large single flower three times -- cutting out the entire flower on one, the smaller center petals on the second, and just the stamens on the third. I then curled the petals using my bone folder and glued the two images together, attaching the cut-out stamens with a mini brad.

You could probably use the drawer for a variety of things. I used it to hold some matching note cards.

There are four sentiments included in this set. The one I used for the top of the box inspired me to use some Stickles on the stamens of my amaryllis. I just put the botanical name on the note cards.

The box will probably hold six or eight cards. I made multiples of these two note cards.

I hope you stop by the blogs of the rest of the DT members for more inspiration. Remember, each time you comment on a blog, you have another chance to win some free stamps.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Big CityFeatured November 27Amaryllis DefinitionFeatured November 28Mountain SelectionsFeatured November 29Just a Note Featured November 30

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day. The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on December 1, 2012, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday November 30, 2012.

As you all know, November is the time to gear up for Christmas shopping. So many sales and crowds! Well, stick with us; we have some great deals for your Holiday Shopping needs.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Winter Scenes"

Today's set is a little outside my comfort zone, but I dove right in. My card is a rather straight-forward CAS one.

I stamped the images with Versafine Onyx Black on Snow Storm Smooth and added the pennant at the top. The word "City" is actually a very small part of the sentiment, as you can see if you look at the stamp set above. I masked off all but one "City" with post-it notes and inked it up. After removing the post-it notes, I stamped it on a scrap of white cardstock, lined up the word "Big" -- then cut it out with a pennant die.

I've decided that I'm going to have a 3-D project each day this week. My project for today is a photo album. Even though the title of the album is "Our Vacation in New York City," this was a total virtual "trip." I've not been to New York City in over 40 years! All the photos are from the internet.

The cover was made with some cardstock and two 4" x 4" coasters.

This is the album opened, showing two "stacks" of photos tied in ribbons.

And this is the album with all the ribbons untied. I found the tutorial for this little album on-line.

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's creations. Each time you comment on a blog, you have another chance to win a free stamp set.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Katie gave us a great video tutorial over on Speedy TV today -- the Never-ending card. It goes together like a puzzle -- and keeps on going, going and going! I actually made two cards -- one using this tutorial, which makes a square card; and other directions I found which make a regular A2 card. Here is the one using Katie's video tutorial:

You can see all four faces of my card in the photo. All the designer paper is from a set of DP from Stampin' Up that I bought last year. All images are from various sets from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company. The sentiment on the front page is from the Christmas Wreath mini set. The images on the second page are from New Pines. The stamp actually contains both of the pine cones. I just masked off one of them when I stamped each panel. For the third page, I stamped and colored the cardinal from Christmas Cardinals and then cut it in half to fit the two smaller panels. The back page is totally designer paper.

My second card fits in a standard A2 envelope.

In addition to the images on this card, which are from Poinsettia Blooms and New Pines again, I used a couple of die cuts on this card. The tassels on the front are from Spellbinders Banners Basic Two, and the pine branches are from Cheery Lynn Designs. All of the designer paper is from the Basic Grey Wassail paper pad.

We'd love for you to play along with us at Tutorial Time on Speedy TV. Make a card using today's tutorial, link it up; and you might win a set of stamps from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company. Today's giveaway set is You Are Cherished. Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I hope you were inspired to try something new.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!
Vicky Gould is the hostess again this week for the CCEE stampers, and she gave us a color challenge (with something extra). We were to make a card using Brown, Yellow, and Orange, along with some designer paper. I found a piece of designer paper in my stash with some autumn leaves that included all three of those colors, so I used it as the background for my birthday wish.

I sponged a little bit of Memento Rich Cocoa around the edges of the card and the focal panel.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Vicky Gould asked the CCEE Stampers to make a Fall or Thanksgiving card this week. My family is coming to my house for Thanksgiving dinner next week, and I like to give everyone a card -- so I was happy to do this challenge. Here's the card I made for Vicky's challenge:

I wanted to try something that was new to me on my card. While not totally new to me, I rarely use direct-to-paper. I punched the leaves from a piece of yellow copy paper (cardstock was too heavy for my punch), and then I swiped a multi-colored inkpad across the punched-out leaves. After gluing the leaves down across the center of the cardstock, I scored a line above and below them and drew a line through the score-line using a marker. Then I stippled some grey-green ink around the leaves between the lines.

We'd love for you to join us and make a Fall/Thanksgiving card. Just link your card, using Mr. Linky, on the CCEE Stampers blog.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Debbie Moran presented the Tutorial Time team with an interesting tutorial this week -- using Bubble Wrap. I have to confess that the first card I made using this tutorial was a disaster. First of all, the only acrylic paint I had was white -- which was fine for the bubble wrap part, but not the rest of the background part. So I put on my thinking cap and decided I would use several dew drop ink pads instead. I must have chosen the wrong color combination because it was rather ugly. Thinking that maybe the white paint spots would improve the look, I forged ahead and attached the bubble wrap to my brayer to apply the white paint. I guess I am brayer-challenged because the result was not pretty! So into the trash went my creation, and I started over. I searched the internet for other examples of this Bubble Wrap tutorial. They were all pretty much the same. So I decided I would tweak it a little bit to see if I had better luck. This is the result of my second try.

I was SO MUCH happier with this one. As I mentioned before, I had no paint except white. I used Memento Rich Cocoa, Potter's Clay and Dandelion dew drop inkpads direct-to-paper, using the directions on the tutorial for the painted background. Then I cut a piece of bubble wrap into the shape of the area I wanted covered with the white paint spots. I brushed the paint directly onto the bubble wrap and then laid it onto the cardstock, pressing gently. One of the cards I saw on the internet in my search for this technique was one made by April Williams. She, of course, used the tutorial as it has been written. (She, obviously, is more talented than I.) I decided I would CASE her card, with some alterations. I stamped the tiger from the set Big Cats, from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company. After adding the pierced sentiment panel and the rhinestone bling, I was finished.

I hope you give this technique a try -- using either as originally written or my variation.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Vicky was back again with another fun challenge on the CCEE Stampers blog -- use only a partial section of an embossing folder on your card. She did mention that Christmas was just around the corner, but I went in a totally different direction. Even though I am not a fisherman (despite the fact that my late husband would spend hours doing just that), I love this image of a wide-mouth bass from the set On the Fly from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company..

After inking up half of the D'vine Swirls embossing folder, I embossed my white cardstock; and then I colored it slightly with a Copic marker to simulate water. The fish was stamped, colored, cut out and then popped up on dimensionals to give a little 3-D effect. I drew a fishing line from the end of the rod to the fish -- and I was done. Pretty simple card!!!

If you'd like to play along with us, we'd love to have you join in on the fun. Just link your card at the end of the CCEE Blog post, using Mr. Linky.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Another month, another CCEE hostess. This month Vicky Gould is our hostess on the CCEE Blog. Her challenge today is a technique challenge -- Faux Pressed Flowers, the tutorial for which is on Splitcoaststampers.

My card is pretty simple -- a Rubbernecker stamp with lots of flower stems and some Prima flowers.

I embossed the pale blue cardstock with a Sizzix Snow Flowers embossing folder then added some big brads to the flower centers. I thought it needed to be dressed up a little bit, so the ribbon, pearls, and stickpin seemed to be the way to go. The card pretty much put itself together!

If you'd like to play along with the CCEE gals, we'd love to have you add your creation using Mr. Linky on our blog.

Clownmom

A little about me

My name is Lois, and I've been stamping since 2006. I retired a couple of years ago; and, although I volunteer at my church and a local non-profit, I do spend a great deal of my energies on this exciting hobby. My late husband and I raised three children, and I have eight grandchildren -- from age 9 to 27.